manicrodder
$50 site donor 2022
I bought an 06 NA vert with 5 speed yesterday. I have no manual but I see 5w30 being used in posts. Castrol specs 5w30 GTX and 5w30/5w40 Syntec. Just wondering if the manual specs this range.
Oil for MINI
- Thread starter manicrodder
- Start date
- Status
manicrodder
$50 site donor 2022
Thanks
We used Maxlife 5W-30 synthetic on last oil change, although this is not the easiest oil to find. The regular Maxlife is a lot more common in stores. Many 5W-30 or 5W-40 oils will work fine in this engine. Just keep oil change intervals reasonable. I don't go for the super-long factory-recommended oil change intervals for BMW's or Mini's.
bmwtechguy,
Do you know what dealers are using on Mini's equipped with the OLM (or whatever monitoring system is called on Mini)? My friend has been doing 16-20000 km changes on his, and I'd hate to think the dealer is only using Castrol GTX or Maxlife.
Do you know what dealers are using on Mini's equipped with the OLM (or whatever monitoring system is called on Mini)? My friend has been doing 16-20000 km changes on his, and I'd hate to think the dealer is only using Castrol GTX or Maxlife.
I thought you wanted to know what oil is good for Minnesota!
AFAIK, MINI dealers are using MINI branded oil that is identical to the BMW "high performance synthetic oil" 5W-30 grade. I am not 100% sure, though. If you call the tollfree number on the underhood stickers, they will always tell you to use full synthetic Mobil1, Valvoline, or Castrol, in 5W-30 grade. Yet none of these oils meet the specs in the owners manual, calling for an A3, heavier 5W-30. Go figure. The oil life monitor leads to a very extended OCI on BMW's and MINI's. I would do one in between the free ones at the dealer. They will all tell you the same thing, off the record, if you plan on keeping the car a long time (and running like new). Same story with BMW motorcycle dealer here.
The MINI oil meets ACEA A3. Not a lot of options there. There's a pic of the back of the bottle here:
http://northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1907500&postcount=40
For my R56 I'm trying 0w30 GC when it's time to change it. If that doesn't work, I'll just buy the Mini oil from the dealer. My dealer in Colorado is charging somewhere around $5.50/quart
http://northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1907500&postcount=40
For my R56 I'm trying 0w30 GC when it's time to change it. If that doesn't work, I'll just buy the Mini oil from the dealer. My dealer in Colorado is charging somewhere around $5.50/quart
I looked at a bottle of MINI 5W30 at my dealer. It says "Made in the USA." Can it still be German Castrol?
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2002
- Messages
- 39,798
Unlike Heineken (yes, mori, I know that was from Holland) GC can't be "made in the USA".
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Unlike Heineken (yes, mori, I know that was from Holland) GC can't be "made in the USA".
That's what I thought.
Unlike Heineken (yes, mori, I know that was from Holland) GC can't be "made in the USA".
That's what I thought.
From what I remember, the owners manual for my daughters 2004 Mini calls for Castrol Synpower 5W30. A supplemental sheet in the owners manual said to use 5W30 Mobil 1 in the US. The local dealer uses Mobil 1.
- Status
